Ben Dykes’ New Translation of Hephaistio of Thebes

In the 13th episode of the podcast I interview Benjamin Dykes about his new translation of book 3 of the Apotelesmatics of Hephaistio of Thebes.

Hephaistio was a 5th century astrologer who wrote in Greek, and his third book contains some of the earliest material on electional astrology, largely derived from the 1st century astrologer Dorotheus of Sidon.

This is the first time that this text has ever been fully translated into any modern language. The translation was carried out by Eduardo Gramaglia, and Ben served as editor and publisher of the text through his company The Cazimi Press.

This is an exciting publication because it allows us to finally answer some longstanding questions about the history and origins of horary astrology, and the extent to which it was practiced in the Hellenistic tradition.